Payne's Bar-B-Que

I went to Memphis twice in late 2023. First time around I tried central bbq and Marlowes. Central was terrible (food truck) , Marlowes was a nice sit down diner with an Elvis centered atmosphere (good food). 2nd time around I went to Payne’s bbq. I was blown away by this bbq. It’s unique , tasty, and the atmosphere adds to the authenticity of this bbq. The smoke on the ribs and the sandwich was perfect. And it was all paired to perfection with their mustard based slaw. I consider this an experience of fine bbq dining in a local mom n pop atmosphere. If you’re in town and want that “Legendary Memphis Bbq” Paynes is the place to go.

I love this place. The owners are super nice. The location may deter some people from going but I felt totally safe. Even the customers eating inside was nice. Love the atmosphere. The Jumbo sandwich is huge. I could have went with a regular. The mustard slaw, I loved it as well as the Barbeque sauce. It is on the sweet side so it might not be everyone but I loved it. I saw someone with the hot dog and it was huge too with lots of yellow slaw.

Ok I have heard about how good Payne's is so I finally got around to trying it. I walk in and greeted very nicely and they took my 3 orders and I must say it is hard to find a place that you can get lunch for less than $10 buck s now. I only had to wait for couple of minutes to get the food and couldn't wait to get back to the office to try it. Let's start with my first bite of the jumbo pork sandwich it had really good flavor and the slaw on it was the bomb. Now the next bite had burnt meat in it and was not very pleasing. Almost every bite afterwards had the burnt meat in it so it made the sandwich not very pleasant to eat. This is the reason I give only 3 stars. The 2 others both had burnt meat in theirs aswell. It wouldn't have been that hard for the preparer to have taken the burnt meat out before making the sandwiches. The beans were pretty good but could have used some of their BBQ sauce in them to make them even better. I'm not sure if I will try them again or not and I hate this after all the other reviews were so high.

A BBQ place in the same location for 51 years says something about the food. Puts it in the category of Rendezvous, Tops, Leonards, and the Commissary. True Memphis style meaning theres more meat than you know what to do with. I could have made two Jumbo sandwiches with the amount of meat on my dinner plate. See the pics of that. My partner picked a jumbo sandwich and is bringing half of it home. First bbq place I’ve been to i couldn’t finish my meal, other than when i order a whole rack of ribs. Mustard style slaw with a bit of vinegar. Three levels of sauce; mild, medium and hot. Not much on the seating but a steady stream of orders walking out the door. Great service by Ron, Tony and Flo who os otherwise know as Mrs . Payne b

The rating is for the food not the building or the neighborhood. We loved the pork sandwich with the yellow coleslaw/chow chow sauce on it..it was the best thing there and would get it again..then beans were great also. The baloney sandwich was the same as the pork with the coleslaw..but not quite as good..still good though...both the sandwiches were very messy. Last of all were the ribs.. just not my style..sauce was very good..and the crispy parts were good .but the rest was fatty..I guess I like baby backs better. The people inside were very nice..don't be scared away by the building.

It is definitely a Pain to eat. They shouldn't call it BBQ, they should call it A bunch of sauce covering a mystery meat. I ordered a sliced plate and got a chunk plate. Came with bland beans and something I suspect is a vegetable? It also had a very stale bun included. I don't know how these places get high ratings. I drove off the highway on the way through to the middle of town to get a highly rated Memphis BBQ and boy, what a waste of time.

A real hole in the wall, at least from the outside. Hidden deep inside Memphis, this hole in the wall has been around for over 50 years so....there must be a reason. We tried it and WOW is the reason. Everything here is special. The meat is perfect and their sauces add to it, not hide it. Ribs, yes. Just go...check their hours though, they are not always open when you expect, a great lunch place for sure.